Creating a Bedtime Book

I did it. I self published my book, and I have actually sold copies of it. This is a rewarding pursuit, but an ego crusher too.

Now he can sleep at nightI used a local printer who gave me a great price for the number of copies I printed. It was all printed in the USA, for those who want to buy American.

(This is a wonderful site. I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to tell my story and maybe inspire someone else to write their inner thoughts and entertain us all.)

The idea came to me one night or day. I am not sure when exactly, but I realized that what my wife and I had accomplished was nothing short of ingenious: we had gotten our two little daughters to go to bed and stay asleep all night long.

You see, my girls, who were 4 to 7 years old, would always - and I mean always - give us trouble going to sleep at night. They would come up with all sorts of excuses. If you are a parent I am sure you may have had this same problem. "Mommy, I want a drink of water." "Mommy I can't sleep. There are noises in my room." "Mommy, I am scared." And the old standbys: "Mommy, I have to go to the bathroom," and "I want a drink of water".

We fought this for weeks and months. We took every logical measure and did all we could to explain the little noises and such that kept them awake.

Logic wasn't working, but once I fought their fears with imagination, on their level of understanding, it was a snap to get them to sleep all night.

So I decided to write the story I was telling them, thinking maybe I could help some other parents to solve this problem too.

So I did. I wrote the story, finding a local college student to do the illustrations, as I can't draw anything but a stick figure. I paid her for her time and creativity.

She created the creatures and pictures, then we combined them to form the story book. I then had to have it edited.

OH, the editor. Let me tell you: if you get a good editor you will come out of it feeling like you are the worst writer in the word. This is where the writer has to have a thick skin. Take the edits and deletions with a calming breath. Do make the changes, and do follow their advice. But remember what your goals are in writing your book. If you self publish, you are the publisher, and you decide if the editor is correct or not. Good luck on this one.

Now you should be ready to print. But before you print or publish you will need an ISBN number, so get it. The ISBN number is your ticket to open the doors to selling books on the open market.

Once this is done, find a printer and print the book - and pay the printer. A good printer will assemble the book and bind it for you.

Okay, that is it. Now marketing your book is the next step for the self publisher. Sites like this one will help you a lot.

Thank you for you time in reading this. I hope you will visit my website. You'll find a nice bedtime book. And maybe a little comfort.

Comments for Creating a Bedtime Book

I just self-published my first children's book. It is about my one year old grandaughter whose sleep issues were solved by a teddy bear. I market-tested it with a Grade 3 class, who loved & related to it.

Fortunately, I am a professional photographer and a graduate of Advertising & Design so the book was lavishly illustrated with photo-illustrations.

I have sent it out to friends by e-mail, but don't know how to go about marketing & selling it over the web. Your results are impressive!

Mar 23, 2010Rating

Books that help with behaviorsby: Steve B. (webmaster)

Nick, it's especially interesting to me what you've done.

Bibliotherapy, the use of books to help children with problems they're having, is a major focus of this site. (The bibliotherapy section.) And it seems to me that's what you've created!